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Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Pfizer, Union Pacific and Broadcom. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

Pfizer’s shares have outperformed the peer group in the year-to-date period (the stock is up +0.7% over this period vs. a -4.1% decline for the Zacks Large-Cap Pharmaceuticals industry). Pfizer has been working on strengthening its product portfolio through acquisitions and licensing deals.

However, Pfizer is facing headwinds in the form of genericization of key drugs, supply challenges in the legacy Hospira portfolio, pricing pressure and rising competition, which are hurting the top line. Nevertheless, the Zacks analyst thinks new products like Ibrance, contribution from acquisitions, cost-cutting efforts, a lower tax rate and share buybacks should help the company achieve its guidance.

Pfizer also boasts a strong pipeline and expects approximately 25 to 30 drug approvals through 2022, including around 15 products that have blockbuster potential. Pfizer’s growing immuno-oncology portfolio offers a strong potential. Bavencio is being considered a key long-term growth driver for Pfizer.

Shares of Union Pacific have outperformed the Zacks Rail industry (+10.2% vs. +8.3%) as well as fellow railroad operator Norfolk Southern Corp. (+7.5%) over the last six months. In further good news, the company unveiled a bullish picture at its Investor Day on May 31. At the event, Union Pacific stated that it intends to repurchase shares worth $20 billion during 2018-20. Dividend payout ratio in the period is anticipated between 40% and 45%. Operating ratio is expected to come down to 60% by 2020.

Moreover, volume growth is expected over the next three years. The Zacks analyst thinks the company’s efforts toward promoting safety are commendable as well. However, high operating expenses and debt levels are worrisome. Declining automotive volumes, due to sluggish vehicle production in the United States, also raise concerns.

Broadcom’s shares have underperformed the Zacks Electronics - Semiconductors industry over the past year, gaining +8.8% vs. +11.5%. Broadcom delivered an impressive second-quarter fiscal 2018 results. Both top and bottom line increased on a year over year basis, primarily driven by seasonal retrieval in demand for broadband access and robust demand for cloud data centers.

The Zacks analyst thinks Broadcom is benefiting from strong demand of its wireless solutions and expanding product portfolio, which makes it well-positioned to address the needs of rapidly growing technologies like IoT and 5G. Strong ties with leading OEMs across multiple target markets will help the company to gain key insights into the requirements of customers.

The company faces intensifying competition and integration risks due to frequent acquisitions. Its leveraged balance sheet and customer concentration continue to be headwinds.

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include KeyCorp and Ulta Beauty.

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Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.

Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.

Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

Many are little publicized and fly under the Wall Street radar. They're virtually unknown to the general public. Yet today's 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" were generated by the stock-picking system that has nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015. Its average gain has been a stellar +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>.

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1988 it has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +25% per year. These returns cover a period from 1988-2017. Zacks Rank stock-rating system returns are computed monthly based on the beginning of the month and end of the month Zacks Rank stock prices plus any dividends received during that particular month. A simple, equally-weighted average return of all Zacks Rank stocks is calculated to determine the monthly return. The monthly returns are then compounded to arrive at the annual return. Only Zacks Rank stocks included in Zacks hypothetical portfolios at the beginning of each month are included in the return calculations. Zacks Ranks stocks can, and often do, change throughout the month. Certain Zacks Rank stocks for which no month-end price was available, pricing information was not collected, or for certain other reasons have been excluded from these return calculations.

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